As part of our general election coverage The Reporter aims to publish statements from each of the candidates standing in Wythenshawe and Sale East. Today it is the turn of UKIP candidate, Mike Bayley-Sanderson.

Years of Austerity have brought nothing but hardship, reduced services, and cuts to all sectors. Has it achieved anything? No. Our debt levels are still rising. UKIP would divert funds from the Overseas Aid budget to put into the NHS, Social Care and Education. We would still offer Aid to those in desperate need, but to have a fixed fund which has to be used up regardless of what spent on is ridiculous when we have homeless & people living in poverty here. We need to get our own house in order.

I believe the referendum last year was a clear decision to leave the EU – We were asked ‘in’ our ‘out’ and the debate we went through clearly indicated the implications of leaving, which we voted to do. Therefore we should not be messing about with ‘hard’ or ‘soft’ debates and just get on with a complete withdrawal. This leaves us excellent opportunities for our future. Get our own county back on track by sorting out the problems with the NHS, Social Care, Education, Homelessness etc, but also venture out in the world striking new deals for business without having to get approval from the EU. Having left the EU, we will still be able to fund all projects and schemes that took funds from the EU (note, actually our money) and still have almost £200M a week to use on the NHS, Social Care, Education, Research, Infrastructure, Job creation etc etc.

I want to give voice to those who feel left behind by the destructive policies of past governments i.e. mass uncontrolled immigration (though I accept controlled immigration is vital & needed), running down of services, a failure to maintain infrastructure, bank regulation and a failure to provide our young people with the skills & training this country needs in order to continue growing.

I believe in more social housing for those with local connections keeping families and communities together. This will protect people as secure tenancies will take away the instability of private rented properties, which will have a direct knock-on effect on reducing the unnecessary homeless crisis. However, I am against greenbelt development. Past generations protected them and it’s our duty to protect it for the future. Only brownfield sites must be developed.

I fully support a better funded educational system, where the people who teach are included in policy making. I would scrap HS2 and use the ~£80 billion from that to fund the education system. I support Grammar Schools, but I think the means in which selection is undertaken and communicated to pupils and parents needs to be changed. UKIP would also introduce more vocational subjects into all schools to encourage children with practical skills that would give them the start they need for a career in industries such as IT, Engineering, Building and manufacturing.

We need to bring long term, well-paying jobs into the area. The South East gets the funding & the jobs – let’s change that and bring business to this wonderful area.